


Making Ends Meet

by RefugeeofTumblr



Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Pickpocketing, minor thievery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 12:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17059499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RefugeeofTumblr/pseuds/RefugeeofTumblr
Summary: It's not easy being a hybrid in a pure-blood fairy's world. Holly Short makes a living, regardless.





	Making Ends Meet

Tonight was a typical night for Holly Short. The moon shone bright and almost full above Haven City, its magical call bringing most of the city's population out to witness its majesty. Some set out picnics with their families in the city's green spaces, while others raced to catch a bus or magtrain on their way to work, sparing only a quick glance at the sky to enjoy the sight.

Holly stepped lithely through it all, avoiding cyclists, cars, and other pedestrians with practiced ease. Yes, tonight would be a good haul as long she played her cards right. She could sense it like a cat that had seen an unguarded ankle; with so many distracted fairies gaping up at the moon, this was a prime opportunity to lighten a few pockets without their owners noticing.

Until later, that was. But Holly didn’t plan to stick around after she’d gotten what she wanted - quick and clean, that was the way. She always left the wallets themselves in anonymous police drop offs so her marks could get them back, and never took any credit, identification, or bank cards. Just cash. She knew what a mess it could be to lose your citizenship card, after all, and it wasn’t her goal to cause that kind of trouble. Losing a bit of your ready cash was relatively harmless in comparison.

Breathing steadily to keep her composure, the elf-sprite hybrid made sure the faux-leather jacket draped across her shoulders was adequately covering her wings. The People, as a rule, looked down on those with mixed-species parentage, and it would be a fine thing indeed to get caught due to profiling. Once she was sure she was secure in her disguise, Holly nodded to herself, satisfied that she was ready. Then, and only then, did she start looking for a target.

For a moment, she was tempted to snatch the wallet of a particularly oblivious young pixie. Truth be told, he would have deserved it for stopping in the middle of a crosswalk when there were other people behind him! Whatever was on his phone could hardly be _that_ important. But she hadn’t had time to pinpoint his wallet, and it would be a fool’s move to strike blindly.

Her mother’s words rang in her ears: _A rash thief is a dead thief, Holly. Remember that, my dear._

That didn’t mean Holly shied away from a bit of risk. It was just a question of finding the right type of risk, and soon enough she did: a bumbling country gnome, obviously fresh to the city, who let her bag dangle negligently from one wrist. The flowing floral dress, hair stiff with product, and the smell of hay clinging to her were dead giveaways. The instant Holly confirmed her suspicions about the gnome, she smiled - a pleasant enough expression to anyone who didn’t know her. Anyone who knew what that smile actually meant, which was, truth be told, a truly precious few, would have guarded their valuables a touch more carefully upon seeing it.

Based on how her target was dressed and the shine of her jewelry (those looked like real diamonds, for Frond’s sake), it was a pretty good bet that the woman was carrying a tidy sum. Anticipation rose in Holly’s chest, and she thought of what she might be able to buy with that money. At the very least, she imagined, her little Sootie would have that veggie burger from Grub’s Grub Shop that she’d been asking about for the last two weeks. That alone made this worth it. Sootie deserved a nice dinner on her birthday, no matter what.

Holly had her target. Now it was just a matter of setting up her approach the right way.

The chance came several blocks after she’d first spotted the gnome lumbering along the sidewalk, when her unfortunate target paused to look at the window display of a particularly high-end dress store.

 _Got you! Now, don’t move…_ While the gnome took out her phone to snap some pictures, Holly reached out subtly, aiming for the open pocket on the outside of her target’s handbag. If the woman had been foolish enough to keep her _phone_ in such an insecure pocket, it stood to reason she’d keep her wallet there as well. Sure enough, Holly’s hand slid into the pocket as smooth as a whisper. An instant later, she withdrew it again, prize clutched tightly in one triumphant fist.

 _Yes!_ Heart pounding, the hybrid kept on going, leaving her target none the wiser. By now Holly had already tucked the heavy wallet into her sleeve, sheltering it from any prying eyes. To anyone else, she looked like nothing more than a harried young elf; your typical urban mother, hurrying to do some errands while the night was still young. But inside, Holly was exultant. The adrenaline rush (and the relief of knowing that there would be dinner on the table tonight) never got old.

Sootie was going to have the birthday she wanted. Holly’s smile softened at the thought.

 _It’s gonna be okay_ , she thought. _It’s going to be okay._

It was amazing how wrong one fairy could be.

**FIN.**

**Author's Note:**

> As always, all feedback and comments are welcome! You can find me here, on fanfiction.net under the same name, on my Dreamwidth, whitefeatheredtrico, or on waterfall as bluwrites.


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